San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-01-31
CHAPTER III.

lHtll WtllI uOlilt W ulllneT.
CHAPTER III.
From the day of our meeting, Miss
Lyall began to fill great part of my
thoughts. l am man of taste, and
admire grace and beauty, simply from
an artistic point of view, but not in the
least like some young men who are con-
tinually wondering what sort of i'm
preston they are making. l am old
enough not to expect woman to form
q romantic attachment to me, although
see no reason why their society should
not amuse me. In fact, | prefer 1t to
that of my own sex when they are
young and interesting, principally,
perhaps, because they rarely contradict
one rudely or interrupt a man when he
is talking about himself.
don't think there is much in me to
interest woman now. A girl with a
shade Of romance would have some
difficulty in accepting me as a lover.
Fancy young woman addressing me
as Henry, dear"-a man who ought
to have grOwn-up daughters of his
own, and who gets out of breath If
obliged TO run up stairsl | could not
permit such familiarity. protest that
IL any SlIl ulu btCOluc dtIttCllcu W llC L
should consider it my duty to make
more strenuous efforts to cure her than
Lancelot did i'll the case of Elaine.
No, no, there is no nonsense about
me, but only certain amount of dor
mant poetry, and this had been awak
ened by Miss Lyall.
The next day l went up to London
to the club. Brown dropped in and
declared with emphasis that l looked
ten years younger than when he last
saw me.
This pleased me and | asked him to
lunch, simply, | confess, for the pleas
ure of talking about Miss Lyall, for
when / am full of subject must
speak of it; weakness, know, but
I'm too old to cure.
We had an excellent lunch, 1 remem-
Der, and particularly good Mayor
naise; it always seems to fix a lunch on
my memory. wish it agreed with me
better!
told Brown of my meeting with
Miss Lyall, and it seemed to amuse
him, but while was doing my best to
describe her eyes and features he in
terrupted me, rather rudely, thought
with an unnecessary laugh, exclaim-
ing ;v,u ,,.,4o,, n,,, ,,.;,,, ola ,,os0,or
why, MtTIOI, my WHY ola DdCDelOT,
the girl has made quite an impression
on you. Ask me to the wedding. Come
and see Merton the married man. All!
ahl all"
hate flippancy, and regretted had
Brown" said |, a little irritably; "a
man can surely admire a pretty girl
without causing absurd jokes. Old
fogies like you and me don't expect
girls to fall in love with them"
Brown is quite as old as L am, but l
could see he did not like to be bracketed
with me as a harmless old bachelor,
for l am told he is still invited to even
ing parties and dances good deal af-
ter supper with girls who are just out.
After lunch it occurred to me that
since 1 had spoiled Miss Lyall's book it
would be polite to replace it. 1t was
Shelley, remembered. All young and
ardent souls read Shelley. / used to
myself at one time, but do not appre-
ciate him so much now, having, per-
hapS, become more reconciled to
things in general" Accordingly l
procured the edition by w. NJ. Rosetti,
in three volumes, and forwarded them
to her with little note, a literary
effort which cost the club several sheets
of paper before l was satisfied. Brown
came up while was directing the en-
velope and asked me IRONICALLY if had
been writing a poem.
"A poem, indeed" exclaimed L testi-
ly. "Why%
Because you have such a seraphic
smile ON your venerable face" he an
swered, grinning.
1t is generally wiser to hold ones
tongue. People do misconstrue so. This
was the commencement of my friend
ship with Edith. She wrote me a little
note of thanks, and hoped | would call
at Fairlawn, which L did on the first
opportunity. Mrs. Lyall was rather a
majestic lady, who evidently contrived
to have her own way in the house,
Edith was charming. She had way
of talking OF the weather which was
most interesting and absorbing. Wo-
men with deep gray eyes and long lash
es have. Her mother quite agreed with
the views expressed on modern Radi-
calism-it is always safe to pitch into
Radicals when you are talking to
ladies. it sounds so respectable.
"Yes," she remarked with sigh, we
live in dangerous times"
"We do indeed" echoed /.
Il suppose all progress does seem
dangerous to people who don't want to
move" Edith remarked.
A liberal sentiment for which her
mother was reproying her, when BERTHE
appeared. Upon my thanking him
with dignity for his assistance he re-
marked that he and Edith had laughed
like anything about it afterward.
Schoolboys are foolish creatures, ready
to giggle at anything, and unpleasantly
frank when it is question of other
people. This visit was the first Of
many, and Edith, who seemed to grow
more charming every time saw her,
acquired so much influence over me that
had it not been for a discovery l made,
l confess it was not unlikely that
might have made donkey of myself.
l discovered she had lover. went
one afternoon to FaiTlawn, and Mrs.
lYall told me that Edith had gone t0